Not In It For Love
by Mrs Carmichael
Summary: When two people come to a realisation about their respective relationships, will they look for someone else or seek comfort in each others arms? Plz R&R, luv ya all Gemz xxx
1. Something About Her

**Not In It For Love**

**Summary: When two people come to a realisation about their respective relationships, will they look for someone else or seek comfort in each others arms? For the purposes of this fic, Rachel is engaged and Eddie is still with Alison.**

**Chapter 1- Something About Her**

Rachel Mason pulled her car up in the grounds of Waterloo Road School. She had been appointed headteacher after the shock resignation of Jack Rimmer. Rachel looked up at the school and smiled slightly to herself, she had never been one to turn down a challenge and this school certainly presented her with that. Waterloo Road had gained quite a reputation and she was slightly nervous about taking over at the helm of this school. Rachel knew that she had a massive job on her hands, trying to turn this school around.

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Eddie Lawson, the deputy headteacher, had been looking out of his office window when he saw an unfamiliar car pull up in the car park; he instinctively knew that this was the new headteacher. Eddie had of course been told about the arrival of the new headteacher and had been gutted that the LEA had decided to appoint a replacement head so soon after Jack's resignation; he wanted a chance to prove that he could be a good head. Deep down, Eddie knew why the LEA had chosen to fill the vacancy so soon; the school needed stability and this headteacher would probably provide that to a much greater extent than he could.

Eddie opened his office door and began to descend the staircase that led to the main exit.

Eddie opened the main exit door a few minutes later. He walked towards Rachel's car just as she got out, 'Rachel Mason, I presume,' Eddie said as he walked up to her.

Rachel nodded as Eddie held his hand out to her, 'Eddie Lawson, Deputy Headteacher,' he said, introducing himself to her.

'Hi…Eddie,' Rachel replied as she smiled at him.

They stood in silence for a few moments before Eddie decided to break it, 'shall I show you to your office?' he asked.

'Yeah, why not,' Rachel smiled at him once again. 'Lead the way.'

Eddie smiled back at her as she locked her car up and he walked back towards the school with Rachel following in his wake. She quickly caught up with him and was walking beside him. Eddie looked across at her and sighed almost inaudibly. There was something about her, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He was sure he'd felt something when they shook hands. Eddie looked down and saw a diamond ring glistening on her finger, Rachel was completely off-limits. All women should've been off-limits to him, he was married after all, it wasn't a happy marriage though. Eddie was only still with Alison for the sake of his three and a half year old son, Michael. His son was the only thing keeping them together. Eddie knew that staying with Alison wasn't right for him but his desire to be a part of his son's upbringing had overridden his longing to leave her and live the life of a single guy again. They had lost Michael's twin brother, Steven, to cot death when he was very young and somehow, Eddie thought that walking away from his marriage would be too much like losing another son. Despite the fact that he knew his marriage to Alison was past the point of fixing, Eddie had stayed faithful to her but he felt sure that Rachel was going to test that resolve.

Eddie showed Rachel to her office and she sat down behind her desk. 'Anything I can do for you?' he asked.

'Can you set up a staff meeting at breaktime so I can introduce myself,' Rachel replied.

'Yeah sure,'

'Thanks Eddie,'

Eddie smiled at her before he left the office, leaving the door open as he did so.

Rachel watched as Eddie opened the door and walked out into the corridors. She sat back in her chair and sighed quietly to herself. She looked around her office and smiled to herself, she knew she was going to be happy here. She hadn't met all the other staff but if they were as nice as Eddie had been, Rachel knew she would enjoy working here. This job had come at a perfect time for her; she saw this as turning over a new leaf and putting the past behind her. Things between Rachel and her fiancé had been a bit strained over the last year and she thought that getting this job was the beginning of a turnaround in her fortunes. Rachel hoped that things between her and her fiancé would get back on track soon, they had been together for six and a half years and they were supposed to be planning their wedding but that had been put on hold for the time being, they had both been having doubts about going through with it and the events of the past year had prevented them from starting to plan the big day.

Rachel too had thought, just like Eddie, that she had felt something when they shook hands. She shook her head, as though trying to remove that thought from her mind, she was engaged, Eddie was married, that much was obvious and she didn't know him that well at the moment. Her relationship wasn't happy as she would've liked but there was something about Eddie, something that made her question her loyalty to her fiancé. Maybe she was still having second thoughts about the two of them getting married; perhaps the second thoughts she believed had gone had never actually gone away. They had simply been suppressed by her desire not to seem like a failure.

Rachel shook her head once more, mentally scolding herself for thinking like that. Despite what everyone had said about him, she loved him. There could never be anything between her and Eddie anyway, he was married, already taken. However, the fact that he was married and she was engaged didn't stop her from thinking that they could be great friends, nothing more.

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Eddie knocked on Rachel's office door again, just after the start of break. 'You ready?' he asked.

Rachel looked up at him and nodded, 'I'm ready,' she replied as she got up from her chair behind the desk and followed Eddie out of the office, towards the staff room.

Eddie opened the door to the staff room, with Rachel following closely behind. 'Can I have your attention please?' he asked the staff gathered in the room.

The staff stopped talking and turned to face Eddie and Rachel, 'as you know, Waterloo Road has been looking for a new headteacher since Jack's resignation and I'm pleased to say we've found his replacement,' Eddie started as turned to Rachel. 'This is Rachel Mason, she's the new headteacher.'

The staff began to mutter amongst themselves, the most prominent of these was Grantly Budgen, Head of English. 'Oh great,' he muttered to his fellow English teacher, Tom Clarkson. 'A woman boss.'

'Leave it out Grantly,' Tom whispered back. 'You don't know what she's like.'

Rachel looked over at Grantly and continued, 'I'm looking forward to working with you all and tonight, the first rounds on me,' she said.

She looked towards Eddie and began to walk towards the staff room door and left. Once he was sure that Rachel had gone, Eddie turned on Grantly. 'What on earth was all that about Grantly?' he asked.

'It's perfectly simple Eddie, she looks like the kind of teacher that is only in this job for the pay packet and the promise of thirteen weeks holiday and if she thinks she's getting round me with a bribe like that, she can bloody well think again,' Grantly replied, referring to Rachel's offer to buy the first round of drinks at the pub that night.

'She might surprise you Grantly, you don't even know her,' Eddie said and he too walked towards the staff room door and opened it.

He was shocked to find Rachel stood by the window; he thought she'd probably gone back to her office. 'Did you hear any of that?' Eddie asked Rachel as he went to stand next to her.

Rachel looked up at Eddie and nodded, 'don't worry about Grantly, he's probably going to be the only one you'll have problems with,' he reassured her.

'Are you coming down to the pub tonight?' Rachel asked, changing the topic of discussion slightly, 'I'd really appreciate it if you did.'

Eddie looked at her and smiled, 'yeah, of course I will,' he replied.

'Great, I'll see you later Eddie,' Rachel said as she began to walk away, back into her office.

Eddie watched her until the door swung shut, smiling to himself slightly and all the time wondering whether there could ever be anything other than friendship between them.

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All comments welcome, including any guesses on who Rachel's fiancé is. Luv ya all Gemz xxxx


	2. A Losing Battle

**Heya guys, update for you. Sorry for the delay, just finished my A-Levels so updates will be a lot more frequent from now on.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter: Laura (****SaMaNdPhiL4eVeR****), ****e and LittleMissGobby. Please keep doing so, luv ya all Gemz xxx**

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**Chapter 2- A Losing Battle**

Rachel left the school at the end of the day. Her first day at Waterloo Road had been very successful, the teachers, except Grantly, and the students seemed to like her and they all seemed to agree that she'd fit in well at the school, Eddie especially. She was just about to get into her car when she heard a voice coming from behind her. 'Rachel!' the voice called.

She turned around and saw Eddie walking towards her, 'what is it Eddie?' Rachel asked.

'I was just wondering what time you were going to meet the rest of us at the pub,' Eddie replied.

'Shall we say about 7:30?'

'That's fine with me, I'll let the others know,' Eddie said as he began to walk back towards the school.

Rachel smiled to herself as she got into her car and drove off, in the direction of her house.

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Rachel pulled up outside the house that she shared with her fiancé a little while later. She walked up the path and put her key into the lock. It opened and Rachel walked inside, putting her stuff down on the bottom of the stairs. 'Stuart!' she called up the stairs. 'You here?'

'In here Rachel,' Stuart replied.

Rachel walked into the living room and saw her fiancé, Stuart Hordley, sat at the desk in the corner of the living room, he turned around in his swivel chair and smiled at her, 'how was your day?' he asked.

'It was fine,' Rachel replied. 'Listen, I'm off down the pub with my new colleagues in a bit, do you wanna join me?'

Stuart shook his head, 'nah, I'm going to get this lot sorted,' he said, gesturing towards a small stack of papers on the desk.

'OK then,' Rachel replied as she went through to the kitchen to make herself some dinner.

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Eddie pulled up outside the house that he shared with Alison and Michael. He entered the house and heard noises coming from the kitchen, he walked through to the kitchen and saw that Alison had just got the dinner ready, 'where have you been?' she asked.

'I just had some bits and pieces I needed to sort out at work,' Eddie replied as he knelt down beside Michael and ruffled his hair.

'Are you still OK to look after him tonight?'

Eddie looked up at her, 'tonight?' he asked blankly.

'Yeah, tonight. I'm having dinner with a few old friends,'

'You'll just have to cancel, I've already got plans,'

'What plans?' Alison asked.

'I'm going to the pub with some work colleagues,' Eddie replied.

'Why can't you cancel?'

'Because we're welcoming the new headteacher to the school, she started today,'

Alison walked out of the kitchen and Eddie followed her. She closed the kitchen door so that Michael couldn't hear them, 'so the new headteacher's a she,' Alison said.

'What's that got to do with anything?' Eddie asked.

'I bet you only want to go tonight so that you can impress her,'

'That's rubbish Alison and you know it,' Eddie said angrily.

She had hit a nerve there, to be fair. He wanted to know whether there could be anything more than friendship between him and Rachel, after their conversation after her introduction to the staff earlier that day; he was convinced he had felt something when they first shook hands. Whether Rachel reciprocated this feeling was another matter altogether, they had known each other for one day and maybe they had to get to know each other before allowing those thoughts into his mind.

'I'll just have to invite my friends round here then,' Alison said, dragging Eddie out of his trance.

'Sorry?' he replied, looking back towards her.

'I said I'll just have to invite my friends over here, so I can look after Michael as well as seeing my friends,'

'Oh OK, do what you want Alison, I won't be here,' Eddie said as he opened the kitchen door and went inside to join his son at the table.

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Rachel walked into the pub a little after 7:30 that evening. She saw that Eddie, Tom, Davina Shackleton, Jasmine Koreshi, Matt Wilding and Steph Haydock were already gathered around a table at the opposite end of the pub. She walked towards them and they all turned around, 'sorry I'm a bit late,' Rachel apologised. 'But I said I'd buy the first round so what's everyone having?'

Everyone put in their orders and Rachel went to the bar. 'Is anyone missing?' Eddie asked as he looked around the table.

'Grantly's not coming,' Steph replied.

'Why not?'

'He said he'd rather eat his own shoe than accept a bribe from her,'

'Did you tell him that it isn't a bribe? She just wants to get to know us all,'

'Do you really think he'd listen? Steph asked.

'No, I don't think he would,' Eddie relented. 'Thanks to the rest of you for coming.'

'It's the least we could do,' Matt replied.

'So what do you think of Rachel as a headteacher?' Eddie asked addressing the whole of the group.

'As I said at lunch, I think she'll fit really well, the kids seem to like her,' Tom replied.

'I agree, the kids do seem to like her, it's just…' Steph trailed off.

'Come on Steph, spit it out,' Davina urged her.

'It's just going to take time for me to get used to having her as my boss and not Jack,'

'Yeah, and we all know you'd prefer to have Jack as your boss,' Davina hit back spitefully, she was still angry that Jack had betrayed her by sleeping with Steph.

'That's enough you two!' Eddie cut in. 'Let's try and put aside our differences, even if it is just for tonight.'

Davina looked across at Eddie and then back at Steph, 'I suppose so,' she said, rather grudgingly.

Eddie smiled at her as Rachel turned around and brought a tray carrying all their drinks over to their table. They proposed a toast to Rachel and she smiled at each of them in turn, her eyes lingering a lot long on Eddie than they did on the others. In that moment, she realised, there was something between them, a spark. She could feel it now. Rachel sighed quietly to herself, the spark was there but neither of them could act on it. Eddie was married, Rachel was engaged and too many people would get hurt if they did act on the spark that they had. She had to suppress it, she couldn't have him, he couldn't possibly be hers and she couldn't be his.

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A few hours later_

Rachel walked up to the bar once again and ordered herself a white wine and a beer for Eddie. Everyone had left the table and were doing other things, Jasmine and Matt were playing pool, Tom and Davina had engaged in a drinking contest, involving quite a few vodka and bacardi shots and Steph was unsuccessfully trying to chat up the barman. Rachel walked back over to the table, carrying her and Eddie's drinks and put them down on the table. 'Thanks Rachel,' he said as she pushed the beer glass towards him.

Rachel sat down beside him and began to drink from her wine glass. 'So who's the lucky guy then Rachel?' Eddie asked, trying his best to sound casual, indicating that he'd seen the diamond sparkler on her finger.

Rachel looked down at the ring and smiled to herself before turning to face Eddie, 'what makes you say he's lucky?' she replied.

'Because whoever this bloke is, he's got you,' Eddie said as he smiled at her.

'You wouldn't be saying that if you were sober,'

'Wouldn't I?' Eddie asked, as though challenging Rachel to contradict him.

Rachel looked into his eyes, as though trying to look for some kind of sign, telling her that he hadn't meant what he had just said. But she couldn't find one, she could feel that spark again, it was almost overpowering her. Rachel fought to suppress the feeling that she was experiencing but deep down, she knew she was fighting a losing battle.

She tore herself away from Eddie's gaze and finished off her drink. 'I'd better be going,' Rachel said as she stood up. 'Night night Eddie,' she added before walking towards the pub door.

'Night Rachel,' Eddie called after her.

She smiled back at him as she pulled open the door and disappeared into the night.

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Reviews? xxx


	3. Something Other Than Friendship

**Hey guys, I am so sorry for not updating this sooner. I had the chapter all written out but kept forgetting to upload it.**

**Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, I really do appreciate it.**

**Now that Waterloo Road is back on TV, I am going to try and get back into writing this story but probably not until the Series 3 DVDs are out because I haven't got many of the episode with Rachel and Eddie in.**

**Thanks once again for your continued support, love you all Gemz xxxxxx**

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Chapter 3- Something Other Than Friendship

It was a few weeks after Rachel's arrival at Waterloo Road. The kids seemed to like her and most of the teachers agreed that she was a great asset to the school. One teacher disagreed with this view totally; Grantly. He had refused to accept her as a part of the school and had done his best to avoid her whenever possible. Even Steph had warmed to her, agreeing that Rachel's influence was beginning to have a positive effect on the kids. Rachel was pleased that her work was beginning to reap rewards. The only thing she had ever wanted to do was make a difference, she _was_ making a difference to this school, the students and even some of the teachers too.

Eddie had been the first to admit that Rachel was a good addition to the school, despite his initial upset at not being chosen for the role in the first place. Over the past few weeks, he had become more and more convinced that there could be something other than friendship between him and Rachel. His marriage was dead in the water, he knew that but he couldn't bring himself to do what he knew was best for him and, in time, for Alison too. This was a loveless marriage and Eddie knew it, the only thing that was stopping him from leaving was Michael. If it wasn't for Michael, he would've cut his losses and walked away from his marriage long ago. He loved his son and wanted to be a part of his life, not a part-time Dad who simply flitted in and out of his son's life whenever it suited him. Rachel was engaged, that much he knew but in the few weeks they had known each other, she hadn't opened up to him about her relationship and Eddie hadn't opened up to her about the state of his marriage. He needed to know whether she was happy in her relationship, or whether she needed something else, something a little more substantial than what she was getting from her fiancé before considering whether things could go further.

One Friday afternoon, things came to a dramatic head between Eddie and Alison. Rachel walked past Eddie's Maths room and knocked on the door; he looked up from his laptop and smiled at her, 'you coming to help me sort things out for the staff meeting?' she asked, leaning her head on the doorframe as she did.

'Yeah OK then Rachel, I'll be with you in a minute,' Eddie replied.

'Great!' Rachel said as Eddie's phone began to ring.

Eddie looked down at his phone and scowled. 'I'd better take this,' he replied, smiling apologetically at Rachel.

'It's OK, I'll wait,' she said.

Eddie answered the phone, 'what is it Alison?' he asked. 'What?...No, I can't pick Michael up, I'm still busy at work. I'm in a staff meeting until 5, why can't you pick him up?...Oh I see, so it's alright for me to cancel what I'm doing but you can't, one rule for me and another for you, don't try the guilt trip Alison, it's not going to work,' Eddie said as he hung up on her, he turned to face Rachel, 'sorry about that,' he added, smiling apologetically at her.

'What was all that about?' Rachel asked.

'Oh, it's nothing,' Eddie replied, brushing her remark aside.

'Eddie,' Rachel started as she walked towards him and perched herself on the edge of his desk. 'You can tell me to sod off if you want but I sense that things aren't right between you and your wife.'

'I don't wanna talk about it,' Eddie said stiffly. 'Look, shall we just get on with sorting out the stuff for the staff meeting?' he added, changing the subject.

'You could go and pick him up and I could get Davina or someone to look after him until the meetings over, it doesn't start for another twenty minutes, you've got time,' Rachel suggested.

'Can you just drop it Rachel,' Eddie snapped at her.

'Fine, I'll drop it,' Rachel replied. 'I am here whenever you want to talk though,' she added, she was feeling real sympathy for Eddie at this moment.

Eddie met her eyes for the first since she'd entered the room and smiled at her once more, 'thanks,' he said.

Rachel smiled back at him as she got off his desk and began to walk towards his classroom door. She left with Eddie following in her wake to prepare for the staff meeting.

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Eddie opened the door to his Maths room a little after five that same evening. Rachel came in a few minutes later. 'Are you sure you're OK Eddie?' she asked. 'It's just you were dead quiet in the meeting, me and the rest of the staff normally have to fight to get a word in edgeways,' she joked.

'Yeah, I'm sorry Rachel, I was just thinking abut earlier, I didn't mean to snap at you, I know you mean well,' Eddie replied.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders, 'are you busy tonight?' Eddie asked, breaking the silence that had descended between them.

Rachel made eye contact with him as a smile crept across her face, 'not especially, why?' she replied.

'I was just wondering if I could take up the offer you made earlier,'

'Course you can,' Rachel said. 'We can go back to mine.'

'Won't your fiancé mind?' Eddie asked.

'What fiancé?' Rachel replied. 'He's in Italy for a fortnight.'

Eddie smiled at her as he gathered his things together. 'I'll meet you in the yard,' Rachel said.

Eddie nodded as she turned around and left his classroom, heading towards her office.

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Rachel unlocked the door to her and Stuart's house a little while later. She dropped her bag in the hallway and watched as Eddie closed the door behind them. 'Go through to the living room Eddie, I won't be a minute,' she said.

Eddie nodded as he walked through the door closest to the stairs and into the living room. Rachel looked towards the telephone on the sideboard, half-hoping that Stuart had left her a message, when she saw that he hadn't, she sighed quietly to herself before kneeling down and puling the phone cable from its socket, she didn't want any interruptions. Things between Rachel and Stuart had got no better over the last few weeks, if anything, they'd got worse. Part of that was probably Rachel's own fault; she still hadn't forgiven him for what he had done to her six months before. After that, she wasn't even sure if she even wanted to rescue their floundering relationship. It was hard to put right everything that Stuart had done, Rachel had tried but she found it less and les likely that things would ever go back to how they were before. She didn't know what to think about him, did she still love him? Or was she scared of admitting that she was wrong to go with him in the first place?

The last few weeks had taught Rachel something; maybe everyone was right to question her relationship with Stuart when they'd first got together. She wished she'd listened to them before, she might not be in this mess now if she had.

She took a deep breath as a realisation hit her like a bolt of lightening. She didn't love Stuart anymore, what he had done to her six months ago had changed everything in their relationship. Rachel no longer looked at him in the way that she had done. She and Eddie had become friends over the last week and she too, like Eddie had been harbouring thoughts of something other than friendship, she had tried to suppress them but had simply given up. Maybe now, she did actually want something to happen between them, something more powerful than friendship.

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